About the data
6.5
GLOBAL LINKS
Primary commodity prices Definitions
Primary commodities—raw or partially processed
economies (France, Germany, Japan, the United
• Energy price index is the composite price index for
materials that will be transformed into fi nished
Kingdom, and the United States) and is included in
coal, petroleum, and natural gas, weighted by exports
goods—are often developing countries’ most impor-
the table for comparison purposes.
of each commodity from low- and middle-income
tant exports, and commodity revenues can affect liv-
countries. • Nonenergy commodity price index cov-
ing standards. Price data are collected from various
ers the 38 nonenergy primary commodities that
sources, including international commodity study
make up the agriculture, fertilizer, and metals and
groups, government agencies, industry trade jour-
minerals indexes. • Agriculture includes beverages,
nals, and Bloomberg and Datastream. Prices are
food, and agricultural raw materials. • Beverages
compiled in U.S. dollars or converted to U.S. dollars
include cocoa, coffee, and tea. • Food includes fats
when quoted in local currencies.
and oils, grains, and other food items. Fats and oils
The table is based on frequently updated price
include coconut oil, copra, groundnut oil, palm oil,
reports. Prices are those received by exporters when
palm kernel oil, soybeans, soybean meal, and soy-
available, or the prices paid by importers or trade
bean oil. Grains include barley, maize, rice, sorghum,
unit values. Annual price series are generally simple
and wheat. Other food items include bananas, beef,
averages based on higher frequency data. The con-
chicken meat, fishmeal, oranges, shrimp, and sugar.
stant price series in the table are deflated by the
• Agricultural raw materials include timber and
manufactures unit value (MUV) index for the Group
other raw materials. Timber includes tropical hard
of Fifteen (G-15) countries (see below).
logs and sawnwood. Other raw materials include cot-
Commodity price indexes are calculated as
ton, natural rubber, and tobacco. • Fertilizers include
Laspeyres index numbers; the fixed weights are the
phosphate, phosphate rock, potassium, and nitrog-
2002–04 average export values for low- and middle-
enous products. • Metals and minerals include base
income economies (based on 2001 gross national
metals (aluminum, copper, lead, nickel, tin, and zinc)
income) rebased to 2005. Data for exports are from
and iron ore. • Steel products price index is the
the United Nations Statistics Division’s Commod-
composite price index for eight steel products based
ity Trade Statistics (Comtrade) database Standard
on quotations free on board (f.o.b.) Japan excluding
International Trade Classification (SITC) revision 3,
shipments to the United States for all years and to
the Food and Agriculture Organization’s FAOSTAT
China prior to 2002, weighted by product shares of
database, the International Energy Agency data-
apparent combined consumption (volume of deliv-
base, BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy, the
eries) for Germany, Japan, and the United States.
World Bureau of Metal Statistics, and World Bank
• Commodity prices—for definitions and sources,
staff estimates.
see “Commodity price data” (also known as the “Pink
Each index in the table represents a fixed basket of
Sheet”) at the World Bank Prospects for Develop-
primary commodity exports over time. The nonenergy
ment website (www.worldbank.org/prospects, click
commodity price index contains 39 price series for
on Products). • MUV G-15 index is the manufactures
38 nonenergy commodities. Separate indexes are
unit value index for G-15 country exports to low- and
compiled for energy and steel products, which are
middle-income economies.
not included in the nonenergy commodity price index. The MUV G-15 index is a composite index of prices for manufactured exports from the 15 major (G-15) developed and emerging economies (Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States) to low- and middle-income economies, valued in U.S. dollars. For the MUV G-15 index, unit value indexes in local currency for each country are converted to U.S. dollars using market exchange rates and are
Data sources
combined using weights determined by the share of
Data on commodity prices and the MUV G-15 index
each country’s exports to low- and middle-income
are compiled by the World Bank’s Development
countries in the base year (2005). The MUV G-5
Prospects Group. Monthly updates of commodity
index is a composite index of prices for manufac-
prices are available at http://data.worldbank.org.
tured exports from the fi ve major (G-5) industrial
2012 World Development Indicators
351